Q Can you tell us about how you got interested in music? Well in my family there was always some music being played bysomeone. My mother and sister both played the piano, my brothers theguitar, and my father played the trumpet. Dad played in the big band days,Benny Goodman,
Tommy Dorsey, Glen Miller, and the like. He must have
been quite good for he was offered to play in a big name band at that time,
but he didn't do that. Instead, he played his way through dental school and became a dentist. As a boy, I played the trumpet in the school band. I remember that in 7thgrade I was playing in the High School band, sitting in the second chairnext to juniors and seniors. My father's influence and tutoring played alarge role in that.

Q How did you get interested in the guitar? When I was 12 years old, my father died. From then on, I found it hardto pick up the trumpet. Still I had that inner desire to make music. My brother, Tom, had an old Kay guitar laying around the house, so I started picking it up and plucking around on the old thing.

Q So did you take lessons to learn to play? No, I never have taken any lessons. What I would do is listen closely and watch others as they would play and learn by what they did. Also, I would buy song books, read and study them. At first, I would listen to and try to play anything by the Beatles, just like every other red blooded American boy. That was in my High School days.

Q Isn't your style more finger picking and acoustical though? Yes it is. Iím not sure why, but my leaning was toward the acousticalsound of guitar. To me it's always been pleasing and relaxing to listen tothe soothing melody of a well played and well built acoustical guitar. Evento this day, I never seem to tire of the rich natural tones that come fromsimple strings and wood. Anyway, I began to get interested in those who had that kind of sound. Peter, Paul & Mary were big in those days, and they had a huge influence onme. Gordon Lightfoot, Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver, James Taylor, andJim
Croce were some others that I loved and that shaped my taste andstyle of music. I would listen to these artists and others, then try to play their songs as closely as I could to what they did.

Performing in 1978

I understand that you went to Indiana State University on ascholarship as a gymnast.

Yes I did. That's a whole other subject, but it does relate to my music. I was really into gymnastics in High School, and I had won the Maryland State High School All-Around Gymnastics Championship three years in a row. One day Coach Roger Council called me from Indiana. He said he would like me to come out there to go to school, and that if I did, I could have that scholarship. So I went. That was a big change in my life. I wrote a song about that experience. It's on my second CD,
Eastern Shore. The song is called Destined For The City. The caliber of gymnastics at I.S.U. was the kind that I had only seen onT.V. or in magazines. Kurt Thomas and I were Teammates for a couple ofyears. When I was a senior, I was the third All-Arounder at I.S.U. Kurt wasthe first, although only a sophomore. Of course, as you probably alreadyrealize, he was one of the best gymnasts this country had produced up tillthen. That time had a large influence in my life, and it was the beginning of when I started to take guitar playing more seriously. In fact, it was in those years that I developed the style of finger picking that I frequently use today.

Q How did your style develop? Well, in those days I ate, drank, and slept gymnastics. Music was alove I couldn't give much time to. However, it was more of an escape for me. There was a guy, though, on the gymnastics team that played guitar and liked the same kind of music I did. Bob Melin and I got ourselves some nice guitars andstarted to get together and play regularly. This is when my style reallydeveloped. We learned some finger picking patterns, and we wouldpractice together in the stairwells of the dorm because of the acoustics. The whole building would be filled with our picking and vocal harmonies. From three floors below us, people would comment about how they likedour music. Bob and I played some coffee houses, and weddings and that kind ofthing. We used to talk about how one day weíd
like to play professionally.

Q So did you and Bob do that? No, we never did. After graduation, Bob got married and he thought itwould be irresponsible to try to make a go of the music. But I did make ago of it. For years I played professionally, playing and singing inrestaurants and Inns in the Midwest. My agent booked me in places thattook me out west. I traveled to Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and Wisconsin. My music has taken me places and allowed meto see and do things that otherwise I never would have done.

Q What about now? Iíve always wanted to write and record my own music. Until recently, Ihaven't done much of that, but thatís what Iím up to now. My first CD,Relax And Reminisce, has eleven songs by some of my favorite artists. Then,there are three that I composed. Iím putting the final touches on my secondCD, Eastern Shore. Iíve completed the recording and mixing. CurrentlyI'm working on the mastering. It is registered for copyright. So it will bepublished and available soon. Eastern Shore has three songs written byGordon Lightfoot. The rest are mine.
Destined For The City, Taken ASpin and Brisky Winds are songs on that CD that I wrote back in the 70ís. The other songs I've done more recently. Right now though, as far as recording goes, Iím working only on my own creations. It's what I want to do. Others have been telling me that's what they want to hear, so thatís what I'm doing.

Recording now

Q What will the future bring? Well, I hope to have another CD made after Eastern Shore that willfeature more of my original songs. Iíve recorded a number of them for italready, but Iíll keep you posted through my Website and e-mail.